Universal Animation Studios
Tom Ruzicka Stuart Snyder Margie Cohn |num_employees = 70 (2018) |owners = Comcast |parent = Universal Pictures (NBCUniversal) |divisions = Gingo }} Universal Animation Studios (formerly Universal Cartoon Studios or Universal Feature Animation or also referred to as Universal Animation) is an American animation studio that is a division of Universal Pictures, a subsidiary of Comcast through its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Founded in 1991, it specializes in animated productions for feature films, short films, and television series for Universal, and has primarily focused upon the production of television and feature animation of other properties, notably including those related to Universal's Gingo division since 2004 such as Gabriel Garza, Computeropolis, Paradoria, Imagimals, and Lix, direct-to-video sequels to other Universal-released feature films such as The Land Before Time, An American Tail, Balto, as well as other films and television series. The studio has produced 28 feature films, beginning with Ama and the Mysterious Crystal in 1997; its most recent feature film is Computeropolis: The Deep Web in 2018. It is the successor to Walter Lantz Productions, the studio which produced Woody Woodpecker and other Walter Lantz cartoon shorts from 1929 to 1972. Universal Animation Studios currently maintains two campuses: the original Universal feature animation studio in Glendale, California and the Gingo studio in North Hollywood, California. The studio's highest-grossing films are Paradoria (2015), which grossed $1.126 billion worldwide, Imagimals (2016), which grossed $1.018 billion worldwide, and Computeropolis 2 (2007), which grossed $953.4 million worldwide. All three are among 50 highest-grossing films of all time, and ten of its films are among the 50 highest-grossing animated films of all time, with Paradoria being the third all-time highest in the latter category. Although the studio also made traditionally animated films in the past, all of their films now use computer animation. History 1972–1991: Restarting the studio and Universal Cartoon Studios The original Walter Lantz Productions cartoon studio was closed down by Universal Studios in 1972 due to the rising costs and declining returns of short subject production. However, before Universal restarted its animation division in 1991, Universal released its first three animated films, such as An American Tail in 1986, The Land Before Time in 1988, and Jetsons: The Movie in 1990. Universal Cartoon Studios opened its doors in 1991 to produce animated feature films and television series for Universal. That same year, the studio produced its very first production, which is an animated television series based on Back to the Future films airing on CBS from 1991 to 1992. 1991–present: Moving into feature animation At the time when Universal Cartoon Studios was founded in 1991, Universal moved into feature animation and established its own feature animated department called Universal Feature Animation to produce theatrically released animated feature films. John Cohen was brought in to head the new division, which was set up in Glendale. From 1989–1997, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment operated Amblimation, a traditional animation studio which was started to compete with Walt Disney Animation Studios, which was experiencing great success at the time with films such as Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. The Amblimation studio, however, was not as successful. Their first feature An American Tail: Fievel Goes West, a sequel to 1986's An American Tail, made $40 million at the worldwide box office in 1991, but their next feature, We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story, was a box office bomb, only grossed $9.3 million in the United States in 1993, while their third and final feature Balto grossed $11 million worldwide and was overshadowed by the success of the competing Disney/Pixar film Toy Story in 1995. Amblimation was shut down in 1997 and some of its staff went on to join DreamWorks Animation and Universal Feature Animation, respectively. In 1994, Universal Feature Animation announced a full slate of animated projects in development: Ama and the Mysterious Crystal, an adaptation of T. H. White's Mistress Masham's Repose, and Galaxion (then titled Salmagundi). Two years later, Universal signed a co-production deal with Gingo Animation, an North Hollywood-based animation company, to form subsidiary Gingo Feature Animation (Gingo owned 60% of GFA, while Universal owned 40%). This new unit would produce both types of animated feature films, beginning with Paint World (1999), which was already in pre-production. The first of Universal's animated features was Ama and the Mysterious Crystal (1997), a fantasy adventure featuring the voice talents of Christina Ricci, Hank Azaria, and Patrick Stewart. Directed by Ralph Zondag, Ama received positive reviews from critics and was a success at the box office. Animation production for Ama was primarily done at the new Glendale studio, although much of the work was outsourced to animation studios around the world. In 1998, Universal and Gingo extended the deal for an additional ten films. At this time, Universal purchased a 60% share of Gingo. This partnership had Universal participating in the production of Gingo animated films in North Hollywood, and also had Gingo participating in some of the UFA animated films. The following year, its next film, Galaxion (1999), received mixed reviews and under-performed at the box office. In the same year, Gingo's Paint World, UFA's third animated feature, was released to critical and financial success; it grossed over $452 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing non-Disney animated film of the year as well as the second highest-grossing animated film of the year behind Toy Story 2. Shortly after the release of Paint World, in early 2000, Los Angeles Times reported that Gingo was in talks with Universal about a possible merger with its Feature Animation studio, but those talks failed. The fourth animated feature from Universal Feature Animation, Mistress Masham's Repose (2001), received a mixed reception from critics and audiences but under-performed due to little marketing and fanfare. That same year, UFA and Gingo released Lina, a CGI animated short, in front of Mistress Masham's Repose, and it received the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. With the successful release of Lina, Universal began considering buying Gingo in order to compete with Disney and Pixar in feature film computer animation. Seeing the box office success of DreamWorks Animation's Shrek and Disney/Pixar's Monsters, Inc., Gingo was reconfigured to become a computer animation studio. The studio's next film, Monster & Me (2002), received a positive reception from critics and audiences. However, the studio decided to rush its release to September with a rushed marketing push. UFA's next feature The Magic Secrets, released in 2003, received mixed reviews from critics and under-performed at the box office which led to a growing perception that hand-drawn animation was becoming outdated and falling out of fashion in favor of the increasing popularity of computer animation, so UFA decided the same year to exit hand-drawn animation business after the next two of total seven hand-drawn films. Beginning with Computeropolis (2004), all released films, other than Curious George (2006), were expected to be produced with CGI. Universal transferred about some of the studio's hand-drawn employees to Gingo via its computer animation department in North Hollywood. 2004–2007: Acquisition of Gingo and renaming After the successful July 2004 release of the CGI animated film Computeropolis, Universal acquired majority interest (90%) in Gingo, and reformed it into Universal Gingo, the main North Hollywood branch of its Feature Animation division. The following year, UFA released its second computer-animated film M.I.S.S.I.O.N., which had been in active development since 1997, to generally positive reviews and had grossed over $293 million worldwide at the box office. In 2006, the studio was renamed into Universal Animation Studios; however, the studio continued to use the Universal Feature Animation label for theatrically released films until 2007. The same year, Curious George, directed by Matthew O'Callaghan and based on the Curious George books by H.A. Rey and Margret Rey, was the studio's first hand-drawn animated film in three years. Despite receiving positive reviews from critics, the film under-performed but was successful on home video for Universal's television animation department to produce a children's animated series, Curious George (2006–2015) for PBS Kids. After Curious George, UFA's eleventh film and third computer-animated film BJ and Wally was released to mixed reviews from critics. However, it was a box office success, earning $486 million worldwide. The studio's next feature and first sequel Computeropolis 2 opened in 2007. It earned over $953 million worldwide, becoming the highest-grossing animated film of the year and breaking a record as the most profitable film from Universal Animation. 2008–2010: Restructuring and continued success In 2008, Universal announced a deal with an up-and-coming animation studio named Illumination Entertainment, positioning it as NBCUniversal's family entertainment arm within its feature animation group consisting of Universal Animation. This meant Universal would be able to release as many as three animated films in a year divided between the two studios. Many felt this decision was made to help Universal to establish itself as a competitor to Disney's feature animation group, which consists of Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios (including its division DisneyToon Studios). Gingo president Michael Wildshill later explained that after the merger, to maintain the studios' separate identities and cultures (notwithstanding the fact of common ownership and common senior management), he and Geo "drew a hard line" that each studio was solely responsible for its own projects and would not be allowed to borrow personnel from or lend tasks out to the other; the rule ensures that each studio maintains "local ownership" of projects and "can be proud of its own work". Thus, for example, when Universal Animation had issues with Gabriel Garza (2011) and Illumination with The Lorax (2012), "nobody bailed them out", and each studio was required "to solve the problem on its own", even when they knew there were personnel at the other studio who, theoretically, could have helped. After Universal's acquisition of Illumination, Universal Animation released its thirteenth feature Swapped, a CGI animated comedy that follows a young girl and a teenage goth boy who swap bodies. The film opened to a much bigger than expected $43 million opening, and ended up with $376 million worldwide. The same year, The Tale of Despereaux, the first animated feature created outside of Universal Animation, was released. It received a mixed response from critics and under-performed at the box office during its holiday release of 2008. The studio's next film, Woo La La, was released in 2009 and became a significant critical and commercial success, earning $532 million worldwide. The following year, Computeropolis 3, the third installment in the ''Computeropolis'' franchise, was released. The film was a box office success, earning over $783 million worldwide. However, unlike the first two Computeropolis films, Computeropolis 3 was not well-received critically. In February 2010, Universal Studios announced that they had signed a deal with Virginia-based Storyline 72 Animation Group to co-develop and co-produce a series of animated projects to be released under the Universal Animation Studios label. In July, however, Universal ended its deal with Storyline 72 when the executives realized that their projects did not fit well in with Universal's other upcoming releases. 2011–present: Further expansion and future projects After Computeropolis 3, Gabriel Garza, a new CGI feature film that marked a return to the Gabriel franchise, followed in 2011 to critical acclaim and commercial success and was nominated for several accolades. The film earned $645 million worldwide, making it the seventh highest-grossing film of 2011. The studio's next feature was Plucky Chicken, released in 2012 and grossed $426 million worldwide, but received mixed reviews. In August 2012, Sony Pictures Imageworks formed a deal with Universal where it will provide the computer animation for stand-alone animated films produced by Universal Animation Studios, starting with the release of Luna & Zak in 2014. In September 2012, Universal named former Walt Disney Feature Animation president Peter Schneider the new president of Universal Animation Studios; however, in January 2013, Schneider resigned for personal reasons. In March 2013, the studio released Quest to critical acclaim and earned over $524 million worldwide, becoming a box office hit. In September 2013, Universal named another former Disney Animation president David Stainton as the president of the studio. Universal Animation's twentieth film Gabriel Garza 2, a sequel to the studio's 2011 film Gabriel Garza, opened in theaters in 2014, earning over $895 million worldwide and becoming the highest-grossing animated film of 2014. The same year, Universal released Luna & Zak, which was animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks and received positive reviews from critics. In October 2014, just a month before the release of Disney's Big Hero 6, Universal entered a licensing agreement with The Walt Disney Company to use the Hiro Hamada character and trademark for Universal's Gingo productions (such as films, television series, shorts, specials, video games, etc.), which sparked media speculation that Hiro will guest star in Gingo's animated comedy sketch series ''GGTV'' as well as appearing in one Gingo film. Gingo coincidentally planned an animated film based on the original Big Hero 6 comics by Marvel in the mid 2000s until it got cancelled years before Disney released their own version of Big Hero 6 in 2014. Gingo's CEO and founder Geo G. stated that the reasoning was due to wanting to have Hiro in Gingo media because of the increasing popularity of "Liro", an internet crossover fan-fiction relationship between Hiro and Leno Garza, a character from Gingo's Gabriel Garza franchise, as they both share the similar appearance and characteristics. Universal and Gingo stated in July 2017 that they intend to keep the Hiro Hamada character license from Disney until the contract expires in 2027. Paradoria, a CGI fantasy-adventure film, was released in March 2015 to widespread acclaim and became a blockbuster hit. Directed by Steve Samono and Gary Hall, it was the first Universal animated film to earn over $1 billion in worldwide box office revenue and is currently the highest-grossing Universal Animation film (surpassing Computeropolis 2 in 2007) and the third highest-grossing animated film of all time, behind Frozen and Minions. In October 2015, Universal named former Cartoon Network president Stuart Snyder as the executive vice president of the studio. In December 2015, the studio's next film The Planetokio Movie, based on the video game series Planetokio and directed by Audel LaRoque, was released and was another commercial and critical success for the studio, grossing over $500 million worldwide. In March 2016, Universal released Evolupia, another film animated by Sony Pictures Imageworks. It was met with positive reviews and proved to be a box office success. On April 28, 2016, NBCUniversal announced its intent to acquire competing studio DreamWorks Animation for $3.8 billion, making DreamWorks Animation a sister studio to Universal Animation Studios and Illumination Entertainment; the acquisition was later completed on August 22, 2016. On that same day, the television animation divisions of Universal and DreamWorks merged. Imagimals, a Geo G.-directed animated film set in the world of imaginary creatures, was released in September 2016. It was the second Universal Animation film to cross the $1 billion mark in worldwide box office revenue. Universal Animation's latest releases are the third installment in the Gabriel Garza reboot film series, Gabriel Garza 3, released on March 3, 2017, the musical Lix, released on December 8, 2017, and the fourth installment in the Computeropolis franchise, Computeropolis: The Deep Web, released on May 4, 2018. The studio is currently working on Cool Spot (2018), Addie (2019), Paradoria 2: Enchanted Realm (2019), Imagimals 2 (2020), Earth Farm (2021), and Hyper (2021), to be followed by three currently untitled projects; the dates are: February 25, 2022; February 24, 2023; and December 20, 2023. Other films in development include a film adaptation based on the children's book Sector 7, Polly and the Black Ink, Gabriel Garza 4, Luna & Zak 2, and Lix 2. On November 16, 2017, it is reported that NBCUniversal's owner Comcast approached 21st Century Fox to buy out their key assets following the news 10 days earlier that The Walt Disney Company negotiated with Fox to acquire the same assets. Like Disney, the deal would have included 20th Century Fox, who owns the rights for most of Gingo's Glass Ball Productions' properties, and cable entertainment and broadcast satellite networks including FX Networks, National Geographic Partners, and Fox International Channels. It would not include the broadcast Fox network and Fox Television Stations, Fox Sports, and Fox News Channel units, due to anti-trust issues, as Comcast owns NBC and its affiliated news and sports networks. However, on December 11, Comcast officially dropped the bid, saying that "We never got the level of engagement needed to make a definitive offer. We have a terrific company with a strong portfolio of businesses and will continue to focus on driving growth, innovating, creating great content, and providing excellent experiences for our customers.” On December 14, Disney officially confirmed its acquisition of 21st Century Fox's key assets, which is still awaiting approval from the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division. Process In a similar manner to Illumination Entertainment, Sony Pictures Animation, Warner Animation Group, and Paramount Animation, Universal Animation Studios relies on other animation studios and VFX companies to provide the animation on their films. This includes Gingo Animation, Project Firefly (Curious George), and Sony Pictures Imageworks (Luna & Zak, Evolupia, ''Cool Spot'', Addie). Initially, from 1997 to 2003, the studio used to produce traditionally hand-drawn animated films in-house. Some films, such as The Tale of Despereaux (Relativity Media and Framestore Feature Animation) and Addie (Sony Pictures Animation) are created outside of Universal Animation, although they are released under the studio's label. Additionally, for some of Universal Animation's productions such as direct-to-video films, the actual animation production is done overseas, usually by either Wang Film Productions or Rough Draft Studios, while pre-production and post-production is United States-based. Filmography Feature films Released films Upcoming films Films in development : Not produced, but released by Universal Animation Studios under its label. : Combines live-action with animation. Direct-to-video feature films : Not produced, but released by Universal Animation Studios under its label. : Combines live-action with animation. Television specials Short films Television series Franchises Accolades Coming soon! Gallery Coming soon! Trivia *Universal Animation Studios is often described by fans as the Universal counterpart of Walt Disney Animation Studios while Illumination is described as the Universal counterpart of Pixar. See also * Illumination Entertainment * DreamWorks Animation * Universal Interactive Studios Category:Companies Category:Universal Studios Category:NBCUniversal Category:Comcast Category:Universal Animation Studios